What's next for my campiagn? (long, but hopefully interesting)

[Macbeth]

I'm about to get a chance to run a few sessions of my campiagn that has been slowed down since I've been at college, but I'm not too sure where things should go next. I'm goign to basically post all the background info about my campaign, and I would ask the great minds of ENWorld to give me some ideas as to what I should focus on.

Items marked with a * are unknown to the PCs as of yet.

The Basics:
- 3.5 Rules, but some 3.0 Materiel still inculded.
- PCs: Pirate 2/Monk 4, Fighter 5/Champion of Light 2, Rogue 7, Druid 7. Champion from AU.
- Spelljammer type campaign in the style of the Polyhedron minigame.
- No Alignment.
- Swashbuckling style.

The Overall Plot:
- Maggedon, and ancient weapon of the Old Gods, has been reawakened, and is making its way to its last target: Faerun (the setting of Forgotten Realms)
- Maggedon has been beaten once before, long ago, by use of Psionics.
*- Maggedon has now become relatively immune to psionics.
- Maggedon uses Abberations that resemble huge eyes made of jelly to create hatred as a mind effecting power. These remote senders are it's main weapon, spreadin death and destruction without direct action by Maggedon.

Background:
- The current campaign has been preceeded by two other campaigns telling parts of the same story.
- In the first campaign, played in Faerun, the PCs battled a demon that they accidentally released. The demon, Tirna'gael, was being used by Maggedon as an agent of destruction. The PCs defeated Tirna'gael, and the campaign ended in a blinding flash of light. Throughout the cmapiagn they were pestered by a race of mechanical constructs called the Sheen (not the saame as the Sheen from Dragon magazine), and they never really figured out why.
- The second campaign took place in another part of the world of Forgotten Realms, where two kingdoms, which had spent a long time in an uneasy peace where finally going to war. This was another manifestation of Maggedon's hatred creating influence. the PCs prevented the war.
- At the end of the second campaign the PCs were recruited by an ancient wizard who is the only living survivor of the first battle with Maggedon. The campaign ended with the PCs of the second campiagn and the PCs of th first campaign meeting on the ancient wizard's demiplane, where he was to train them to face Maggedon.

The Campaign So far:
-Set on a system of planet's at the edge of the universe, the site of the last battle with Maggedon. The gods deserted this place after the battle with Maggedon.
- With eth "true gods" gone, the system is filled with minor deities created by the beliefs of its inhabitants.
- Maggedon has started to rise again, so a young cleric by the name of Cade has set about to create a deity that can defend the system. Since, in this part of the world, with the old gods gone, a deites power is based on it's number of followers, Cade has set out to get as many converts as he can to this new god, Solus.
- The PCs have been recruited by Cade. Only one of them has actually converted to worship Solus (the Champion, who is the first champion of Solus), but another two are close to converting.
- Maggedon's influence is felt primarily in two ways: the giant eyes that can be seen in the sky, which grow larger as Maggedon approaches, and the Mind flayer invasion that has started at the outer edge of the system.

Major Enemies:
- The Iron God: The single largest deity in the setting, the Iron God has a very strict church. Very early on the PCs tried to assainate the high preist of the Iron God with a magic arrow crafted by a resistance group, but they failed. the tried again recently, but failed again. The Iron God opposes the PCs.
- Maggedon: Maggedon has been sendin remote senders to cerate violence and hatred, and the mind flayers that are invading the outer system are Maggedon's doing.

Currently:
- After trying to assassinate the high preist of the Iron God, the PCs were almost killed, but saved at the last minute by Solus. They were transported to the wreckage of a city they had visted before, which had been destroyed by pirates. The followers of Solus who had manned the PC's spelljammer were also transported there. The act of saving them drained a significant part of Solus' power, and the Cleric of Solus, Cade, was badly injured in the escape. Cade is still unconscious. So basically they're at an all time low.

What I'm thinking of doing next:
- First, When Cade recovers, he will have had a revelation from Solus, a description of how Maggedon was beat before. He knows that psionics were usefull before.
- The PC's must race to find the only remaining place where they still practice psionics, since the iron god wants to get a psionicist too.
- Unfortunately, they find that when they try to use psionics against one of Maggedon's remote senders, it has little/no effect. Maggedon now uses psionics (hence the mind flayer invasion).
- Cade and the psion start to try to develop a new mental discipline, one that can be used against Maggedon. During this time the PCs can do what they want (though they usually just ask Cade what to do anyway. It's like they like being railroaded).
- Cade and the psion create a new mental discipline, as reflected by the Psychic Powers in the Psychic's Handbook by Green Ronin. eithre one of the PCs uses the new powers, or one of the NPC followers of Solus recieves the gift of psychic power.
- The Iron God wants to be able to use psychic powers for his own good, so followers of the iron god kidnap the psychic. The PCs can try to get him back, but the Iron God will perform viscious experiments on the psychic.
- Cade also found in his reveltaion that one of the old gods created a great number of constructs, known as the Artifice Army, to defeat Maggedon. These constructs were scattered around the universe, but the main controlling brain was left at the sight of the final battle. over the eons, the controlling brain gathered mass from passing comets and asteroids, and it is now the outer planet of the system, which is under the ocntrol of the mind flayers. It becomes obvious that the mind falyers are not invading, they just want control of the Artifice army. The players will also figure out that the Sheen are really the remnents of the Artifice Army, without a conrtolling brain for so long...


So what do you think of my plan for what to do next? Does it work? Is it interesting? What could I do to make it better? Thanks for any advice you can give.

 

[diaglo]

so Cade is the only cleric in the entire campaign?

if that is so, do the player's know his powers? what about the characters... do they know he has or will have access to cure and raise dead?

 

[alsih2o]

What are you doing writing this all down you old fool?? You should be saving your energy for Ceramic DM!!!

My goodness gracious, these young athletes are so cocky...

 

[Macbeth]

so Cade is the only cleric in the entire campaign?

if that is so, do the player's know his powers? what about the characters... do they know he has or will have access to cure and raise dead?

Not the only cleric, but the only one the PCs have run into regular basis. Clerics are arare to say the least. They know they are lucky to have him, and they regularlry take advantage of his healing. They know that he is unlikely to raise dead (I have made raise dead slightly higher level for this campaign), but they do know he makes healing easily avaliable to the followers of solus.

 

[diaglo]

Not the only cleric, but the only one the PCs have run into regular basis. Clerics are arare to say the least. They know they are lucky to have him, and they regularlry take advantage of his healing. They know that he is unlikely to raise dead (I have made raise dead slightly higher level for this campaign), but they do know he makes healing easily avaliable to the followers of solus.

so my question is: do the players ask for undead turning/spells for the cleric to cast/items blessed/etc..., even tho none of their characters know what a cleric can/should be able to do?

it is like asking a wizard to cast time stop even if no one has ever seen or heard of the spell being performed before.

 

[Macbeth]

so my question is: do the players ask for undead turning/spells for the cleric to cast/items blessed/etc..., even tho none of their characters know what a cleric can/should be able to do?

it is like asking a wizard to cast time stop even if no one has ever seen or heard of the spell being performed before.

the players have never asked for undead turning. Healing was offered first, now they ask for it. i've made some changes to the cleric class to keep them guessing, and they only assume that Cade can do what they've seen him do. They know better then to assume I won't muck around with the rules just to keep them geussing.

 

[nameless]

I think you should focus on the ancient constructs as the key to defeating Mageddon's armies, and on empowering Solis to defeat Mageddon himself.

I'm imagining not only traditional armies of constructs (which happen to be immune to mind-affecting magic) to rout the illithids and remote senders, but also legendary gigantic constructs. Moon-sized giants who can single-handedly destroy armies and spelljamming fleets, possibly even planets (I'm ripping off Unicron with this one). Your campaign though, I'm just bouncing off ideas.

 

[Macbeth]

I think you should focus on the ancient constructs as the key to defeating Mageddon's armies, and on empowering Solis to defeat Mageddon himself.

I'm imagining not only traditional armies of constructs (which happen to be immune to mind-affecting magic) to rout the illithids and remote senders, but also legendary gigantic constructs. Moon-sized giants who can single-handedly destroy armies and spelljamming fleets, possibly even planets (I'm ripping off Unicron with this one). Your campaign though, I'm just bouncing off ideas.

I'd actually been tossing around the idea of planet sized units in the army of constructs, but I'm not sure if it's too anime for my tastes or not. I've been considering it, and I may just have the planet sized constructs alluded too, but never encountered. Regardless, thanks for the input. I do like the idea of having a huge space battle, with a small planet construct taking on a fleet of illithid ships and the PC's zomming through, helping take out particularly nasty Illithids....

 

[BSF]

OK, I finally have some time to post a few thoughts.

I would suggest that you do not have Cade and a Psion create a new Discipline. Instead, I would suggest that you go with a mentor of sorts.

One idea is to complement the Mind Flayers. Bring in the Githyanki and Githzerai. Maybe the Githyanki work with the agents of the Iron God and the PC's will work with the Githzerai. There are tales in both race's history of a third splinter from Gith. This splinter was very small and disappeared into the Void. Sure, they have stories that this group left to a crystaline planet, but it seems far-fetched and neither race has, previously, had an interest in seeking it out.

So, the PC's have to race the agents of the Iron God to find the planet where Psychic Powers are prevalent. Make it a smaller planet, maybe more like a moon, with a crystal core. Finding the planet, the PC's can eventually trace their way through the ruined, abandoned city. For even more cool atmosphere, put the planet at the edge of something. Maybe a sinkhole into the Negative Material plane? Think along the lines of a Black Hole, heck, rent the movie. The PC's wil eventually find a crystaline stairway that leads down to the core. The crystaline core is closed, but when a character enters and opens his mind, he receives all the Psychic Impressions from the planet and the people that once lived there, the third splinter from the followers of Gith. This will awaken the Psychic potential in the character. Heck, if you want to be really wacky, give the feat away for free and let as many characters have it as they want. Depending on how you want to handle Psychics, maybe there will also be Psychic Sentient item that can train people.

Anyway, the PC's can't stick around because the moon is going to be destroyed by negative energy soon. This is the last chance to recover Psychic power and bring it into the game. Incidentally, this also provides incentive for the Iron God's agents to track down the PC's.

Just a few thoughts. If I have more later, I will drop into the thread.